A head appeared.

The tip of its nose quivered.
"Hey, old-timer! Will you walk into my parlor ?" it jeered.
Steve walked over with dignity and firmly closed the door, closing it, through sheer inadvertence, from the inside.

A shout of welcome greeted him.
With one exception--the Transient--they were all old friends; the Stockman, the Judge, alike darkly attractive; the supple-handed Merchant, with curly hair and nose; and the strong quiet figure of the Eminent Person.

A wight of high renown and national, this last, who had attained to his present bad Eminence through superior longevity.
As he was still in the prime of life, it should perhaps be explained that his longevity was purely comparative, as contrasted with that of a number of gentlemen, eminent in the same line, who had been a trifle dilatory at critical moments, to them final.
The Merchant, sometime Banker-by-night, as now, began evening up chip-stacks.

"How much ?" he queried.